The shot of Jack and Rose standing on the bow of the Titanic is probably one of the most recognizable shots in cinema history.

But shocking new photos have revealed the iconic structure has fallen into disrepair.

Images taken this summer by robotic submarines show that 4.5 meters (14.7 feet) of the ship’s bow has sunk to the sea floor.

The expedition team that made the discovery warns that it is only a matter of time before the entire ship collapses completely.

Tomasina Ray, director of collections at RMS Titanic Inc., who led the expedition, said: “People keep asking, ‘How long will Titanic be there?’ We just don’t know, but we’re keeping an eye on it.”

Shocking images reveal Titanic’s iconic bow finally collapsed after spending more than 110 years beneath the waves

The wreck of the Titanic currently lies 350 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, and can only be safely reached by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)

Between July and August, two remotely operated underwater vehicles descended to the Titanic and discovered that the ship’s bow was beginning to sink.

In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank into the North Atlantic, killing 1,500 passengers and crew.

The massive ocean liner sank more than 3,800 metres (12,500 feet) to the seabed off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

The ship was lost in the mists of time, but in 1985 a group of explorers took the first photos of the wreck.

The images revealed that the railing, which was immortalised in the 1998 film Titanic, had miraculously survived intact more than 70 years after the disaster.

But during an expedition in July and August of this year, two remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) sent by RMS Titanic Inc. discovered that much of the bow rail was gone.

An expedition conducted by RMS Titanic Inc. found that a 4.5 m (15 ft) section of the forward railing had collapsed

This railing became famous thanks to the scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Jack and Rose in the 1997 film Titanic (pictured)

The expedition crew found that the railing had broken off from the bow and fallen to the bottom of the sea.

Later 3D scans of the area revealed that the section had sunk entirely to the seabed.

Ms Ray told the BBC: “The bow of the Titanic is just iconic – there are loads of moments like that in popular culture – and that’s what comes to mind when you think of a shipwreck. And it doesn’t look like that anymore.”

Photos and 3D scans of the wreck taken in 2022 by deep-sea mapping company Magellan and documentary filmmakers Atlantic Productions showed the rail was still in place.

Based on these findings, scientists believe this section must have collapsed within the last two years.

The ship’s metal structure is eaten away by microorganisms, causing large rust stalactites, called rustles, to form.

Since the discovery of the wreck, successive groups of researchers and explorers have observed the gradual disintegration of the once magnificent ship.

Three-dimensional scans of the ship and the surrounding area showed that part of the railing had fallen off in its entirety.

Since the Titanic (pictured) sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, its wreck has remained in more than 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) of water

The railing has remained remarkably intact for more than 100 years underwater, but as seen in this 1993 photo, microorganisms are gradually transforming the metal structure into rust stalactites called “rusticles.”

As early as 2022, the bow began to sag from erosion and it was only a matter of time before most of the ship collapsed.

“This is further evidence that the situation is getting worse every day,” Ms Ray said.

Before the Titanic sinks completely, researchers plan to preserve and salvage as much of it as possible.

RMS Titanic Inc. even notes that new areas of destruction could allow “free access to the interior of the ship,” creating new opportunities for discovery.

During the expedition, the two ROVs captured more than two million photos and 24 hours of HD video.

Based on scans of the wreck taken in 2022 (pictured) that showed the rail was still in place, scientists believe the bow may have collapsed at some point in the past two years

In this photo you can see a section of the railing that was visible on previous expeditions. Below you can see the Titanic’s anchor

RMS Titanic Inc hopes that further degradation of the ship (pictured) will allow access to the interior at new points

The company is currently analyzing the data and hopes to use it to create a detailed 3D image of the Titanic.

This year’s expedition also led to the discovery of an artifact long thought lost.

When the original 1985 expedition released the first photos of the wreck, they showed a bronze statue known as Diana of Versailles lying in a field of debris.

However, due to the widespread secrecy surrounding the discovery, the statue’s exact location was never recorded.

Now a 60-centimetre tall figure that once adorned the fireplace in the first-class saloon has been discovered.

The expedition also made the incredible discovery of a 60-centimetre statue known as Diana of Versailles (pictured), long thought to have been lost

The Diana of Versailles once graced the first-class salon on the Titanic (pictured), but has not been seen since being recorded by the first expedition in 1985.

James Penca, a Titanic researcher and presenter of the Witness Titanic podcast, says: “It was like finding a needle in a haystack. To rediscover it this year was groundbreaking.”

‘The first class saloon was the most beautiful and incredibly detailed room on the ship. And the focal point of the room was Diana of Versailles

Since 1994, RMS Titanic Inc. has had exclusive rights to salvage the wreck of the Titanic and is the only company legally allowed to remove items from the site.

Since then, the company has recovered thousands of pieces from the wreck and now plans to recover the Diana of Versailles and put it on display.

Ms. Ray says: “There’s value in bringing Diana back so people can see her for themselves, in rekindling a love of history, diving, preservation, shipwrecks, sculpture. I couldn’t leave it at the bottom of the ocean.”

Binoculars Could Have Saved Titanic, Observer Says Official Inquiry

David Blair (pictured) was an experienced sailor

During the official U.S. investigation into the ship’s sinking, lookout Fred Fleet stated that he had previously used binoculars, also known as glasses, on the RMS Oceanic, another transatlantic liner.

Senator Smith, the chairman of the inquiry committee, asked Fleet: “If you had glasses … could you see that black object (the iceberg) from a greater distance?”

Fleet replied, “We might have seen it a little earlier.”

When asked, “How much faster?” he replied, “Well, enough to get out of my way.”

In Mr Blair’s defence, Mr Aldridge added: “Blair would have certainly started putting things in order sooner.”

In his haste he forgot to return the key, so the fate of the Titanic was in his hands.

“But as far as blame goes, you have to look at the captain, EJ Smith. The ship was going too fast in an ice field that he had warned about.”

He added: “There were binoculars on the bridge and also binoculars on the crow’s nest because Blair had had them only a few days before.

‘However, the failure to pass them on to the observers may have been due to Lightoller not knowing where they were.

“He would have found them if he had managed to open the locker. So in the end, all the observers had were their eyes.”